Shloka 23
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५७
Arjuna’s targeted advance; Śalya–Karṇa dialogue; interception attempts
हस्तिहस्तोपमैश्छिन्नैरूरुभिश्न॒ तरस्विनाम् । बद्धचूडामणिवरै: शिरोभिश्नल सकुण्डलै:
hastihastopamaiś chinnair ūrubhiś ca tarasvinām | baddha-cūḍāmaṇi-varaiḥ śirobhis ca sa-kuṇḍalaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The battlefield was strewn with the severed thighs of mighty warriors—thick like the trunks of elephants—and with heads still adorned with tied topknots, splendid crest-jewels, and earrings. The scene underscores the terrible cost of wrath-driven combat, where honor and ornament alike are reduced to mute remnants amid slaughter.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the impermanence of worldly splendor and the grim consequences of war: even the marks of status and beauty—jewels, earrings, coiffure—cannot shield one from death. It implicitly cautions against unchecked fury and the dehumanizing momentum of battle.
Sañjaya is reporting to Dhṛtarāṣṭra a vivid battlefield tableau in the Karṇa Parva: limbs and heads of fallen, powerful fighters lie scattered, described through striking similes and details of their ornaments.